Medical examiner's finding intensifies calls for reform in how Vermont officers use weapon

Sep. 28, 2012

Macadam Mason is seen with his dog, Bear, in this family photo. / Courtesy photo

Written by

Free Press Staff

An electrical discharge from a Vermont state trooper’s Taser weapon caused the death of a Thetford man three months ago outside his home, the New Hampshire Medical Examiner’s Office advised Vermont State Police Friday.

Macadam Mason, 39, suffered “sudden cardiac death due to conducted electrical weapon discharge,” Vermont State Police reported late Friday afternoon in a statement relaying the conclusions from Mason’s autopsy in New Hampshire.

Mason died June 20 outside his Thetford home after Senior Trooper David Shaffer fired his Taser at Mason’s chest.

The finding on the cause of death spurred more calls for change in how Vermont law-enforcement officers are trained on and use Tasers.

State police have said Shaffer and three other troopers responded to Mason’s home that day because Mason had called a nearby hospital and threatened to kill himself and others. Shaffer confronted Mason and, knowing him to be unarmed, ordered him to lie on the ground. According to state police, Mason refused and instead yelled “aggressively,” made a fist and moved toward Shaffer, who responded by firing his Taser.

“We knew all along the Taser was the cause of death,” said Holly Davidonis, daughter of Mason’s partner, Theresa Davidonis. That was all the family wanted to say Friday.

Theresa Davidonis filed a lawsuit in July against the trooper and the State Police alleging Shaffer used excessive force when he shot Mason in the chest, contrary to the manufacturer’s directions and in violation of state police policy advising against firing a Taser at someone with “cognitive impairment.”

The state police statement Friday noted the “manner of death” that would be listed in the autopsy would be “homicide,” but explained this would be the medical, not the legal, use of the word.

State Police said the New Hampshire Medical Examiner’s Office also reported Mason had other “significant conditions” — including heart disease and Excited Delirium Syndrome.

Mason’s autopsy took place in New Hampshire because he was taken to a hospital in that state and pronounced dead there.

(Page 2 of 2)

Steve Tuttle, vice president of communications for Taser International Inc. said in an emailed statement Friday night, “TASER stands behind the safety of its products, but we do not comment on an unfortunate death without having been provided the opportunity to review the autopsy report.”

Tuttle defended the safety of the Taser, noting the National Institute of Justice “concluded that there is no conclusive medical evidence in the current body of research literature that indicates a high risk of serious injury or death to humans from the direct or indirect cardiovascular or metabolic effects of short-term Taser exposure in healthy, normal, nonstressed, nonintoxicated persons.”

A week after Mason’s death, mental health advocates, legislators and civil libertarians called for a moratorium on Taser use by all law enforcement in Vermont.

Jack McCullough, director of the Vermont Mental Health Law Project, helped organize the gathering where he and others demanded a time-out on the use of Tasers. The new information only bolsters the case for a moratorium, McCullough said Friday evening.

If state officials and police fail to respond to calls for a moratorium, McCullough predicted mental health advocates would raise the issue with lawmakers next winter.

Morgan Brown, who gathered signatures online in support of a moratorium, said police need more training — not in how to discharge this weapon, but in how to call in other experts to help defuse this kind of situation involving a potentially mentally ill person.

Brown hoped the autopsy would prompt police to agree to a moratorium, but added, “I don’t think we should have had to wait for this.”

Allen Gilbert, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont and another Taser critic, said, “Police must accept that a Taser is a deadly weapon and that it should only be used when deadly force is justified. Policies should be changed to reflect this fact.”

Gilbert added, “It’s hard to see how deadly force was justified against Macadam Mason, an upset, infirm individual who had called emergency personnel for help. State officials must now begin the difficult work of determining whether a trooper should be charged with a crime for shooting Mason.”

Mason’s death certificate was completed earlier this week, but those records are not available to the public under New Hampshire law. Mason’s death certificate had not been released by New Hampshire authorities to the Burlington Free Press, which made a public records request this week.

Vermont State Police are still conducting an investigation into Mason’s death. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office will review the trooper’s conduct to determine whether he acted appropriately. That evaluation is expected to take a month or more after receipt of the Vermont State Police’s formal report, prosecutors told the Free Press this week.